A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Enhancing academic and Practice

Languages
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• Voting systems may be used in conjunction with an IWB to engage students more
actively in a lecture situation and provide instant feedback for the lecturer to allow
misconceptions to be addressed (Beekes, 2006; Schmidt, 2006).
• The IWB may be used to project digital text or audio or video material for the class to
work on, including performances produced by students.
• The IWB may be used to demonstrate and share the writing process, to present models
of work in order to highlight good features and suggest improvements (this could be
a particularly useful tool in the translation process suggested below).
• Video-conferencing may be used to link up with native speakers and bring reality
to topic discussions.
• The creation of digital video vignettes and podcasts may be exploited to provide an
end goal and a real audience for language use and production.
• Institutional intranets may be used as a means of communication and support for
learners within a guided self-study scheme, for example by providing video and
audio clips with related tasks; the use of remote drives linked to digital language
laboratory software such as the popular Sanako system is a further extension of this.
• Concordancing may be used with more advanced learners to encourage heuristic
learning approaches and develop sophisticated language skills.
• With appropriate guidance on where to look and how to evaluate the reliability and
validity of information, the internet can be a useful source of authentic and interesting
material for both lecturer and student, and in particular can help support research for
projects.
• CD ROM collections may be used as a valuable source of research material for project
work.
• Multimedia CD ROMs may be used to develop pronunciation and fluency.
• With tutorial guidance, students can make use of grammar-based programmes to
diagnose learning needs and improve their accuracy through drilling and test
exercises (see Case study 3).
This list is by no means exhaustive, and the speed of technological development means
that none ever could be. A useful and regularly updated source of support is the ICT4LT
website (Davies, 2005) which provides case studies and advice combined with a researchled
rationale for various aspects of C&IT use. Further ideas may be found in Dudeney
(2000), Gill (2000) and Coleman and Klapper (2005).
Case study 1: Languages online
Project background
Since 2002, the Department of Languages and Translation Studies has been
delivering FL courses with an integrated online component. The aim in using a
VLE (WebCT) was to extend and enhance the student learning experience by